Meet our consignment experts

Ed Jaster
Art - Fine & Decorative

From the very beginning, Ed Jaster seemed destined for the art business. His parents met while attending the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in the 1940s, the same school their son would later attend. Subsequently, for some 20 years, Ed owned his own commercial art firm in Chicago, acquiring, trading, and selling world class collections of American photography, illustration art, and vintage comic books. Ed brought his vast experience and expertise in collectibles to Heritage Auctions in 2002.

Ed Beardsley
Art - Fine & Decorative

Roberta Kramer
Art - Fine & Decorative

Roberta Kramer, General Manager, Chicago, is a
25-year veteran of the art and antiques world. Before beginning her career in
auctions, she spent two years curating for the Ben Uri Art Society in London.
Returning stateside, Roberta served as Gallery Director for J. Rosenthal Fine
Art until her interest in Continental Antiques led her to a management position
at Rita Bucheit, Ltd. In 1992, with her extensive knowledge of fine art and
antiques, Roberta started her auction career at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers as
an account executive. In 1995, after taking a leave to found the Antiques
Center at Kinzie Square, she was named Consignment Director of newly formed
Chicago auction house, Susanins Auctions. While at Susanins she also managed
the appraisal department and served as principal auctioneer alongside Sean
Susanin. In 2001 she founded Roberta Kramer & Associates, Inc., a firm
specializing in appraisals and art consulting. A recognized USPAP compliant appraiser and auctioneer, Roberta has served as a charity auctioneer for
numerous charities and has been a frequent contributor to Art & Antiques
Magazine.

Karen Rigdon
Art - Fine & Decorative

Karen holds a Master’s Degree in Decorative Arts History from Parsons’s School of Design and the New School for Social Research through the Cooper Hewitt Museum. Her career began in the curatorial departments of distinguished collections including the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts where responsibilities included the reinstallation of the decorative arts collections and period rooms as well as establishing the collecting direction of the Norwest Modernism Collection.

She went on to Gallery Directorships in Chicago, Atlanta and Birmingham, MI, accepting opportunities to continue to curate exhibitions while buying extensively and developing private collections of furniture, ceramics and glass. Beginning in 2003 she developed curriculum and taught graduate and undergraduate courses in the History of Decorative Arts for institutions including Georgia State University.

Karen has been with Heritage Auction since 2007, and has been involved with the Fine Silver & Vertu Auctions sincere their inception in May 2008. She is currently Director of Silver and Decorative Arts.

Nicholas Dawes
Art - Fine & Decorative

Nick began his career in his native England in the late 1960's and brings forty years of experience in the antiques and fine art auction business. He emigrated to New York in 1979 and has pursued his career there as an auctioneer, appraiser, author, lecturer and antiques dealer. He is a former Department Head and auctioneer at Phillips and at Sotheby's in New York, and has organized his own auctions at several prominent auction houses. He has held an annual exhibition and sale of Lalique glass hood ornaments at the Pebble Beach Concours D'Elegance since 1993, and is considered this country's leading authority on the work of Rene Lalique. Nick is the author of four standard works on decorative arts which have collectively sold over 100,000 copies, together with scores of articles, and lectures widely internationally. He has been a faculty member of Parsons, the New School for Design, since 1984, and has taught Luxury Marketing at Columbia Business School and courses on English and French furniture at the Bard Graduate Center. He first appeared as an appraiser on 'Antiques Roadshow' for PBS in the second ever broadcast of the show, and has appeared regularly ever since, discussing ceramics, glass, silver and other decorative arts.

Aviva Lehmann
Art - Fine & Decorative

Director of American Art, New York1-877-HERITAGE (437-4824) x1519View Biography

Aviva Lehmann joined Heritage in January 2013 after fourteen years in the auction industry. With over ten years of in-depth knowledge and experience in American Art, she holds a broad interest in all aspects of the field. Ms. Lehmann previously served as Vice President, Specialist in the American Art department at Christie’s, where she was instrumental in establishing dozens of auction records in virtually every category of American Art. While directing their mid-season auctions in 2004-6 she doubled the value of these sales. Additionally Ms. Lehmann has lectured on American Art at museums and institutions throughout the country.

Prior to her tenure at Christie’s, Ms. Lehmann worked for two years as assistant curator of Judaica at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. Ms. Lehmann graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History from Yeshiva University.

Ariana Hartsock
Art - Fine & Decorative

Ariana Hartsock earned her B.A. in Art History from the University of California at Santa Barbara, and her M.A. in Modern Art, History of the Art Market, and Connoisseurship at Christie's Education in New York. Prior to joining Heritage, she held positions with two major New York auction houses as a Specialist in American Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture, and headed twice-yearly, record-breaking sales in the category. She began her career at prominent galleries in California, specializing in American and Early California art. She now serves at Heritage as a Consignment Director in Fine Art.

Alissa Ford
Art - Fine & Decorative

Alissa is well versed on the art market, having managed multi-million dollar collections nationwide, helping collectors find premier paintings by important California and Western artists; and having worked both at major California and New York auction houses and alongside some of the country’s most respected dealers. Alissa received her BA in Art History with an emphasis in the Italian Renaissance, then pursued her Master’s in American Fine and Decorative Arts. After spending several years in New York, Alissa decided to return to her native grounds to specialize in the great masters of the American West, working in the California Painting department of another prominent auction house and as Director of a highly recognized California Art Gallery. “I realized early on that this niche of the market is filled with passionate collectors and I feel fortunate to continue to build relationships with those buyers ” In addition to her role as Director, California Art, Alissa acts as one of the company’s auctioneers.

Frank Hettig
Art - Fine & Decorative

Frank Hettig is Heritage Auction's Director of Modern & Contemporary Art. In addition to more than twelve years of auction experience, Frank has a well-regarded reputation as a curator, critic and connoisseur of contemporary art. Trained as an art historian at the University of Amsterdam, Frank advised on exhibitions and museum catalogues and has lectured at a number of colleges and universities both in the US and overseas. At both the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles (German Cultural Institute) and the Consulate General of the Netherlands, he conceptualized and coordinated a variety of international cultural events including lectures and symposia, guest artist exhibitions and performing arts programs. As an independent art critic he has written reviews and features in English, German and Dutch for publications such as Archis, Art/Text, Artforum, Bauwelt, Forum International, das Kunstwerk, Kunstforum and Metropolis, among others. Frank has handled auctions of many private collections, corporate art collections including a Fortune 100 Company, the Estate of Dr. Edmund Pillsbury among others; and is also overseeing Heritage’s growth in Latin-American Art and Chinese Art.

Meredith Meuwly ISA CAPP
Art - Fine & Decorative

Meredith earned her Bachelor’s degree in Classical Studies and Art History from Duke University in 2000, and a Master’s degree in Modern Art, Connoisseurship, and the History of the Art Market from Christie's Education in New York in 2001. She spent the next five years in the Christie's New York Antiquities Department as sale coordinator and cataloguer of ancient Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Near Eastern works of art. During her time at Christie's, she worked on numerous high profile auctions including the Doris Duke Estate, Ancient Egyptian Art from the Harer Family Trust, and the John W. Kluge Morven Collection of Ancient Art.

Meredith joined Heritage Auctions in 2007 as Senior Consignment Director in the Fine & Decorative Arts Department, overseeing two auctions each year. In January 2010, she became the Director of Appraisal Services, preparing formal appraisals for 40 specialist categories.

In addition to her duties at Heritage, Meredith participates as an appraiser for Antiques Roadshow on PBS, specializing in Glass, Silver, and Decorative Arts. Meredith is a certified appraiser of personal property with the International Society of Appraisers. She serves on the ISA Fine Art committee and was an executive board member of the Foundation for Appraisal Education from 2013-2016. Meredith is currently an instructor for the ISA Fine Art Course and a frequent guest lecturer at museums, institutions, conferences, and multiple civic organizations. In 2015, she was honored with the ISA Distinguished Service Award for her contributions and dedication to the field of personal property appraisals.

Atlee Phillips
Art - Fine & Decorative

As the Director of the Texas Art department, Atlee Marie
Phillips has overseen bi-annual record-breaking Texas art auctions since
joining Heritage Auctions in 2008. She has spearheaded several important
corporate and private collections that have come to auction, including the
Estate of Dr. Edmund Pillsbury, the Estate of Kelly Fearing, and The Belo
Collection. In addition, Atlee works as a Consignment Director across all
categories throughout her native Fort Worth. She has also written
articles, participated in panel discussions, lectured, and given radio and
television interviews regarding Texas art and the auction market.

Atlee grew up in the art business, working with her parents,
J. O. "Dutch" Phillips and Mary Frances Phillips, at their galleries
in Fort Worth and Dallas. She studied art history at The Colorado College and
later attended the graduate program at Tulane University in order to study
Aztec and Colonial Mexican art. She has completed extended internships at
the Amon Carter Museum of American Art and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.
She continually strives to raise the public awareness of Texas art,
promote Texas artists, and assist Texas art enthusiasts in building wonderful
collections.

Delia E. Sullivan
Art - Fine & Decorative

With a Master's Degree in Cultural Anthropology from the New School for Social Research in New York City, Delia E. Sullivan studied Primitive Art with Ted Carpenter and Shamanism with Michael Harner. She worked for 14 years at Christie's in New York City, seven of which were spent as head of the American Indian Art Department. From 2000 through 2007, Delia managed two auctions a year in that capacity, during which she significantly raised the profitability and reputation of her department.

Leon Benrimon
Art - Fine & Decorative

Leon, Heritage Auctions’ Director of Modern and Contemporary
Art for its New York office, has spent his entire life in the art business,
with parents who both own art galleries, and three siblings, all of whom also
currently work in the art world. Prior to joining Heritage, Benrimon owned
Benrimon Contemporary in New York, where he sold blue chip artworks on the
secondary market in association with historical exhibitions, while dedicating
himself to representing and supporting emerging, established and mid-career
Contemporary artists working in a variety of mediums. He received his
Master’s Degree at Christie’s Education in New York and worked at family owned
galleries on Fifth and Madison Avenues at David Benrimon Fine Art. His specialty
is working with new collectors and post-war artists – such as Warhol,
Lichtenstein, Prince, Basquiat, Longo, Kusama Haring, Murakami and Hirst, among
others.

Marianne Berardi PhD
Art - Fine & Decorative

Art historian Dr. Marianne Berardi serves as Heritage Auctions' Senior Expert in American Art and Director of Old Master Paintings. Her dual expertise in American 20th-Century Art and Dutch 17th Century Painting was the combination which first brought her to Heritage in 2006 to research and write the book-length auction catalogue for the Walsh Family Collection of American and European Painting sold through Heritage in the Fall of 2006. Since that time she was responsible for bringing to Heritage the following collections and estates, as well as researching and writing their accompanying catalogues: the Hon. Judge Paul H. Buchanan Collection of American Painting (November 11, 2009);Lucille Ball Memorabilia from the Collection of Susie Morton and Gary Morton (Lucille Ball’s second husband) (November 14, 2010); The Collection of Paul Gregory and Janet Gaynor (March 20, 2011); Contemporary Art from the Estate of Dr. Edmund P. Pillsbury (October 26, 2011); Selections from the American Painting Collection of the Jean and Graham Devoe Williford Charitable Trust (May 15, 2012; May 11, 2013; and May 2014 forthcoming).

Marianne holds both a M.A. in 20th Century American Art and a Ph.D. in Dutch 17th-Century Art from the University of Pittsburgh. She held a Kress Fellowship; a Theodore Rousseau Fellowship in connoisseurship studies at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; and two consecutive Andrew W. Mellon fellowships. During her five-year tenure as Director of the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of American Art in St. Joseph, Missouri, she published widely on Benton and the Regionalists. In 1993, she curated a comprehensive exhibition of the work of Thomas Hart Benton and many of his pupils whom she tracked down from many regions of the United States. The exhibition, Under the Influence: The Students of Thomas Hart Benton (1993), was accompanied by her book-length catalogue of the same title. In 2010, her book on Benton pupil Margot Peet (Discovering Margot Peet) was published by Posterity Press. Following her move to Cleveland, Ohio, Marianne served as Director of the Cleveland Artists Foundation. She has taught art history at the University of Pittsburgh, the Kansas City Art Institute, Case Western Reserve University, and John Carroll University. She has a reading knowledge of French, Dutch, German, and Italian. She is currently completing a monograph and catalogue raisonne on the celebrated Dutch flower painter, Rachel Ruysch (1664-1750), on whom she is the recognized authority.

Carolyn Mani
Art - Fine & Decorative

Carolyn Mani's background includes more than fifteen years of experience in both live and online auctions, as well as an extensive background in appraising and vetting Furniture and Decorative Arts, Fine Art, Collectibles, Musical Instruments and Entertainment Memorabilia. Prior to joining Heritage, Carolyn was Director and Auctioneer at Bonhams & Butterfields Estate department for more than ten years where she established a proven track record in working with large consignments and institutions. Carolyn has also provided auction services to numerous charities including John Wayne Cancer Society, Stars for a Cause, The LOOC foundation, Wheels for Humanity, The Beverly Hills Bar Association Barristers, The Chrysalis Foundation, Project Angel Food, Cancer Treatment Centers of America, The Chuck Jones Center for Creativity and many others.

Richard Cervantes
Art - Fine & Decorative

Richard Cervantes is Consignment Director for Asian Art, New York. His expertise in the identification, valuation, marketing and sale of fine Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Southeast Asian works of art was developed over ten years as a specialist and eventual department head at a major East Coast auction house. Prior to his career in auction, Richard was a scholar and educator in the fields of Ancient History and Italian Literature. He has frequently presented to private and trade audiences on Asian Art and textile topics and is a featured appraiser on PBS' Antiques Roadshow.

Clementine Chen
Art - Fine & Decorative

Clementine Chen
is a well-regarded specialist with over a decade of experience in the field of
Asian art. Prior to joining Heritage, Clementine worked at international
auction houses in Beijing and San Francisco where she organized several
exclusive auctions of Chinese paintings and furniture. She also worked
for Ronin Gallery, a prestigious Japanese print gallery in New York. In
her most recent role as an Asian art Specialist in San Francisco, Clementine
regularly set auction records for Chinese paintings sold on the West
Coast. Clementine is fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese and travels to Asia
frequently to conduct primary research in her field and meet with Asian
scholars. She received her Bachelor’s degree in English Literature from
Soochow University in China and Master's degree in Arts Management from
Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh. Clementine also enjoys traditional Chinese opera
and volunteers for Kun Opera Theater.

Taylor Curry
Art - Fine & Decorative

Having had the opportunity
to live around the world in his youth, Taylor acquired a deep appreciation for
art in its many forms. As that grew into a passion, he decided to pursue, and
ultimately earn, an undergraduate degree in the History of Art from the University
of Edinburgh in Scotland. While completing his studies, he trained with the
renowned Ingleby Gallery in Edinburgh, where he developed a keen interest in
the business-side of the art world. Looking to build on his gallery experience,
he applied and was accepted to the Sotheby’s Institute of Art and went on to
earn a Master’s Degree in Art Business. Following graduation he joined Heritage
and has since enjoyed working across a number of fields in the auction
business. In 2016, he joined Heritage’s Modern and Contemporary Art team and is
currently Consignment Director in New York. Combining his love of contemporary
art and knowledge of the auction business and looks to provide his clients
with the highest possible level of service. Taylor is also a USPAP compliant appraiser of Modern & Contemporary Art.

Brent Lewis
Art - Fine & Decorative

Brent Lewis is an art and design specialist
based in Los Angeles and the director of design for Heritage Auctions. He has spent over fifteen years in the auction
business, working with both East and West Coast firms as a specialist and
auctioneer. In his role at Heritage, Brent oversees the department of 20th
Century and Contemporary Design, focusing on building Heritage’s market in
mid-century and postwar design.

Prior to joining Heritage, Brent was the
director of Wright auction house’s New York gallery, and was formerly a
Vice President and Auctioneer at Christie's, New York. Previously he was
the Gallery Director of Moss, New York and held roles at Freeman’s auction
house in Philadelphia and Bonham’s in Los Angeles.
Brent has appeared on PBS’ Antiques Roadshow and
is a contributing editor of Cultured Magazine. He has published widely on
the subjects of art and design with recent subjects including Frank Gehry,
Robert Wilson, Gaetano Pesce, Tom Sachs, Carlos Cruz-Diez and Los Carpinteros.

Jenny Milani
Art - Fine & Decorative

Jenny Milani is
the Assistant Director of the Nature and Science department. She has an Honors
Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology from the University of Texas at
Arlington. She then went on to receive a Master in Archaeology degree from
Flinders University in South Australia. After her master’s degree, she received
real life experience while serving two years in the United States Peace Corps
as an environment volunteer in Jamaica.

Nigel Russell
Art - Fine & Decorative

Nigel Russell was educated at Vassar College and the Rochester Institute of Technology, where he studied Photographic Science and Engineering. He started his career in 1979 at Sotheby's London cataloguing antique cameras and scientific instruments and instituted Sotheby's first auctions devoted solely to cameras, photographic viewers and optical toys. In 1981 he transferred to Sotheby's New York as Assistant Departmental Director of the Collectibles Department and was responsible for the auction of the Dobran Collection of Photographica, the first sale of its kind in America.

After leaving Sotheby's Russell became the curator of the Spira Collection, New York, a private collection of approximately 20,000 items relating to the history of photography. He remained there until 1999, then working at Swann Auction Galleries as the Photographs & Camera Specialist. Subsequent to Swann"s, Russell was back at Sotheby's as the Director of the Photographs Department for Sothebys.com and at Christie's New York as a Photographs Specialist. He also consulted on antique and collectible cameras for Adorama, New York and WestLicht Photographica Auctions, Vienna.

From November 2005 to March 2006, Nigel was a photography consultant for the National Counsel for Culture, Art & Heritage, Doha, Qatar and worked as Photography Curator for the Qatar Museums Authority from November 2006 until March 2013.

Nigel is a major contributor to "The History of Photography As Seen Through The Spira Collection," published by Aperture in the fall of 2001 and co-author of "Spirit Capture: Photographs from the National Museum of the American Indian," published by the Smithsonian in the fall of 1998 as well as a contributor to various photography magazines. He was a member of the advisory committee of the Technology Department of the International Museum of Photography at the George Eastman House and has also lectured on the Photography Auction Market and Collecting Photographica.

Holly Sherratt
Art - Fine & Decorative

Holly Sherratt
has more than 20 years of fine art experience and has worked in the auction
industry for more than a decade. As a well-regarded Modern and Contemporary Art
specialist, she has directed the sales of hundreds of important collections
nationwide. She was the founding Director of Made in California Art at a major
auction house and was instrumental in establishing world record prices for
dozens of artists. She was also Head of Museum Programs at the world’s
largest art online retailer, managing strategic partnerships with museums such
as MoMA, British Museum, and the de Young. With vast auction, business
development, and non-profit experience, she has built relationships with
collectors, arts organizations, and fiduciaries around the world.

Holly received her BA in Art History from UCLA and MA in Visual
Studies (Art History and Critical Theory) from UCI. She trained at the
Smithsonian American Art Museum and Laguna Art Museum. Holly also completed
coursework at Loyola Law School and received the distinguished American
Jurisprudence Awards for both legal writing and criminal law before
transferring to graduate school. She is an active member of the San Francisco
arts community. She served on the Board of Directors of Contemporary Extension
at the SFMOMA and enjoys lecturing at local universities and arts
organizations.

Naomi Thune
Art - Fine & Decorative

Rachel Weathers
Art - Fine & Decorative

Weathers is a fifth-generation Texan who entered the art
world in 1993 with gallerist Eugene Binder in his Deep Ellum, Dallas space, as well as
in a position with the Public Art Coordinator for the City of Dallas working on
the Freedman’s Memorial Cemetery Project. A New Orleans resident since 1999, she most
recently served as the Vice President and as Director of Paintings, Prints and
Photography at Neal Auction Company, New Orleans during her fifteen years there. Weathers has cataloged extensive collections,
overseen exhibition installations and worked at more than 100 auctions.
A generalist, Weathers has extensive
knowledge in American Furniture of the 19th century and paintings of the deep
South from the 19th and 20th centuries. Following Hurricane Katrina, Weather’s
expertise was
crucial to clients pursuing conservation following the storm.
For the last several years, Weathers was instrumental in
developing successful proposals for important and significant collections. She
also oversaw condition reports and reviewed auction estimates.